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THE MOST EPIC OF THREADS: In just a few minutes, @NRDems, led by @RepRaulGrijalva, will be rolling the landmark Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act. I'll be live-tweeting the press conference, which starts in a few minutes. You can tune in here:
What is #OceanClimateAction, and why is it important? This short video explains:
Here we go! @RepRaulGrijalva kicking it off with the highlights - ocean-based solutions could deliver a fifth of the carbon reductions we need to keep our climate liveable. https://www.oceanpanel.org/climate
Now @USRepKCastor, chair of @ClimateCrisis, speaking about Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, toxic algae, & other FL catastrophes. The bill will ban all new offshore drilling, invest in solution to harmful algal blooms & more.
Really appreciate @USRepKCastor highlighting the need to #Protect30x30, and also the importance of ensuring that the needs of frontline communities & communities of color are central. #NatureForAll
. @RepHuffman, chair of @NRDems subcommittee on Waters, Oceans, and Wildlife on the importance of U.S. climate leadership & central role of the ocean. Snazzy blue checked jacket too, sir!
. @RepHuffman: "The situation is dire but it's not hopeless. This bill offers tangible solutions & we are committed to advancing those solutions." Mentions coastal restoration, stopping new offshore drilling, ambitious offshore wind goals, ensuring fishing communities can adapt.
Now up: @RepEBJ, chair of @HouseScience. She is supporting the bill because it is full of smart science-based solutions to energy & climate change problems (and incorporates the great work of @HouseScience, as it should!).
. @RepDebHaaland points out that NM was an ocean too, millennia ago! I love a politician that thinks in geologic time. She rightly recognizes the importance of oceans & coastal communities for the entire country. Special shout-out to #Protect30x30, an effort she leads.
The chair of @NRDems subcommittee on Energy & Mineral Resources, @RepLowenthal, is particularly proud of the energy provisions of this bill, which stops all new offshore oil & gas leasing, and brings our offshore wind policy up to speed with ambitious production goals.
. @RepLowenthal also flags importance of U.S. global leadership - for example, the Law of the Sea treaty, high seas conservation and management, & Arctic issues.
Ocean policy leader @RepBonamici links the @ClimateCrisis' groundbreaking ocean recommendations to the path laid out in this bill, such as through her work on blue carbon mapping & restoration. Also flags importance of wave- and current/tide-driven marine energy.
First mention of the BLOB from @RepBonamici! The blob - a glimpse into an apocalyptic ocean future - is what this bill is trying to avoid. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/climate/ocean-heat-waves-blob.html
Just learned from @RepJoeNeguse that CO has the most SCUBA divers per capita of any state! I think the strong representation of ocean leaders from inland states speaks so strongly for the importance of #OceanClimateAction and of this bill.
The House members have concluded, now moving to the distinguished panel. @johnpodesta is first up. "I am so honored to be with the ocean climate and conservation leaders on this call. All the people here know the ocean is critical to every part of our lives."
"We recognize that a healthy ocean will be impossible to secure without dealing with climate change." - @johnpodesta
Really appreciate @johnpodesta linking the climate crisis & the nature crisis - and the need for a just transition.
The amazing Queen Quet of the @GullahGeechee Nation is singing "Wade in the Water" and I have chills.
"I am a native of the Sea Islands...when we hear the word 'ocean' it's as if you're calling our name." - Queen Quet of @GullahGeechee
"We have our own plan for the @GullahGeechee Nation, and this bill fits right on in it. We want to get in the same boat with you and continue to row." - Queen Quet
. @JaneLubchenco has a gorgeous Oregon tidepool quilt as her background - special out-out to my fav Patiria miniata!
. @JaneLubchenco mentions #Protect30x30, blue carbon, climate-ready fisheries, and clean ocean energy. "This bill could be...a booming wake-up call to the climate community."
"When we pay attention to the ocean, people win, the economy wins, and nature wins." - @JaneLubchenco
Last speaker is @Enric_Sala. "I have seen marine life recover spectacularly when we protect places in the ocean...our science is telling us that when we protect places marine life comes back." #Protect30x30
Lots more on @Enric_Sala's point in this @OceanProgress report: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2019/06/03/470585/marine-protected-areas-help-fisheries-ocean-ecosystems/
. @RepLowenthal pointing out Trump administration's discrepancies in offshore wind permitting vs. their thirst for offshore oil and gas. "Now we are 18 months behind in the actual permitting of the first project, and that's where we are."
More on @RepLowenthal's point in this @CAPenergypolicy report: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2020/06/25/486852/trump-administration-stifling-renewable-energy-public-lands-waters/
Discussion of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, one of the smartest and least-known tools in the federal toolbelt - prevents federal money from going to projects built in sensitive coastal areas. https://www.fws.gov/cbra/act.html
. @USRepKCastor brings it back to the critical importance of net zero emissions by 2050 to keep a liveable planet. The @ClimateCrisis report she led provides a roadmap. https://climatecrisis.house.gov/report
A hopeful point from @RepRaulGrijalva - we have seen the consequence of government inaction in the COVID pandemic. People are not going to want to live through this again, and therefore climate action becomes more possible.
. @RepBonamici points out that #OceanClimateAction can be popular and bipartisan, such as with her Blue Carbon bill. https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/bonamici-posey-beyer-mast-introduce-bipartisan-bill-advance-blue-carbon-protect
Press conference concluded! I want to end this thread with a shout-out to @JaneLubchenco for her tireless work on #OceanClimateAction. She has proved the ocean is indeed too big to ignore. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/364/6444/911.full.pdf
@SenWarren, with @ayanaeliza & others, created the Blue New Deal, which connected the science with a real, policy-facing plan for #OceanClimateAction https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/blue-new-deal
I have to jump on another call but this thread is NOT CLOSED; I promised @maggiethomas315 GIFs and there WILL BE GIFs.
Ok! Back on Twitter to conclude this thread and then to move seamlessly into my other job in kindergarten aftercare.
Another very important effort contributing to this bill was the Ocean Climate Action Plan effort led by @Helvarg & Jason Scorse https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/center-blue-economy/cbe-news/blue-new-deal-house-bill-major-advance
. @gwynnetaraska & @savestomatopods laid a lot of groundwork leading up to the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2018/08/16/454850/elevating-ocean-based-climate-solutions/
I could go on and on but want to leave you all with this thought. We know what to do. We can do it. It's not too late.
So much of it comes down to this though. We have to stop emitting carbon.
So for today, please thank @RepRaulGrijalva @USRepKCastor @repbonamici @RepDebHaaland @RepHuffman @RepJoeNeguse @RepEBJ @RepMcEachin @RepEdCase @RepMikeLevin @RepDebDingell @RepBrownley @RepLowenthal @Kilili_Sablan for their #OceanClimateAction vision.
And let's move forward together. Because without the ocean, where are you going to get GIFs like this?
Or this?
/fin
